The Detroit Red Wings have not suited up for a game since the regular season ended. But, a former Red Wings forward, Darren Helm, is pursuing the second Stanley Cup Championship of his career. Helm is a 15-year veteran of the NHL who spent 14 of those seasons with the Red Wings.
Now, as the Detroit Red Wings fans watch the Stanley Cup Championship, they have to choose which evil to root for. The brutal Colorado Avalanche, who everyone hates, are taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning or the house that Steve Yzerman built.
Helm is helping anchor the bottom-six of the Avalanche’s forwards a little deeper into the Stanley Cup finals. They have been working on putting away the Lightning and are up two games on the Lightning early on in the series. Helm added a goal in the Avalanche’s victory in Game 2 of the series.
Helm has logged 16 games in the postseason during the Avalanche’s run to this point, where he has two goals and two assists for four total points. While the 35-year-old forward is not going to lead the team in scoring or be running amuck with Nathan MacKinnon, he is a role player.
Former Red Wings forward Darren Helm is looking for a second cup ring.
After his fourteen seasons in Hockeytown, the former Red Wings role player was able to catch on with a contender. He’s done his job. At the end of the day, he’s no high-caliber player, but he gets the job done, and at $1 million, it’s more than an affordable luxury.
While the end of his time with the Red Wings was a bit more of the fanbase thinking he was useless, he serves a role when it comes to a competitor team who could use the veteran presence. Helm, at 35, is likely running out of time in the NHL, and in his first season with the Red Wings, the team went on to win the cup.
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Helm may have only played in seven games but was a part of the team. As the Avs close in on a victory, Helm is staring down a chance to win his second championship and possibly finish off his career on top. He played one last season, logging 68 games with the Avs, scoring seven goals and adding eight assists for 15 total points.
It’s not the most exciting storyline to follow or one that’s all over the Cup finals, but Helm’s chase is worth paying attention to. The Red Wings faithful who are tuning in to watch the finals can have a rooting interest in Helm as he aims for another cup.
Now, after getting all of that out there, I am sure the older Red Wings fans will be waiting with pitchforks for even assuming they should root for the Avs or an Avs player.
